Rising star Raphael Nii Ankrah seeded No.2 moved into the semifinals of the ITF East Africa Junior Circuit J4 in Nairobi, Kenya following a 2-6,6-2,6-4 victory over 10th seed Madagascar's Mahefa Anthony Rakotomalala.
Nii Ankrah, who received a first round bye, began his quest for a first ITF Junior title in Kenya against the Egyptian and had no problems dismissing him with a 6-3,6-2.
After losing the first set 2-6, Nii Ankrah found his rhythm and won the second set. In the deciding set, Nii raised his game to close out the set and claim victory.
Nii Ankrah will face No.4 seed Serbia's Nikola Jovic who ousted South African Jordan George Georgiev 6-2,7-6(5).
Elsewhere, Abubakari Yakubu-Lea who was sick fell in straight sets to Zimbabwe's Thompson Thomu 6-0,6-3.
However, in the doubles event, Raphael Nii Ankrah and his partner Allan Gatoto of Burundi produced an epic comeback from behind performances to oust Portugal's Tiago Boschmans and Tunisia's Alaa Trifi 6-3,4-6,10-7. The pair will face China's Yile Li and his partner, Serbia's Todor Vukomanovic in the final.
